The last kind man
by regie27
Summary: On a hot, uneventful afternoon in Roanapur, Revy reminisces of her recent mission to Japan and how the events that unfolded made her see Rock on a different light. Set during the Japan arc on The Second Barrage. M for language & adult situations.


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**The last kind man**

**A Black Lagoon fanfiction by regie27**

**Standard disclaimers apply**

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In the violent world of Roanapur, kindness is an alien word. Those who have willfully exiled themselves to this city don't give a damn about kindness. They have no use for it, not when bullets and money can obtain what your heart desires with half the effort and twice the satisfaction. Kindness is merely a finesse of the other world, the world most of them had willfully renounced to. Those on the other side had the luxury of extolling the virtues of such high concepts as kindness and justice and equality, but none would serve for a thing once you crossed over to this god-forsaken island and allowed the hangman's noose to ominously greet you like Charon greeted the dead. The accursed land of Roanapur is a world shrouded in shadows where the living dead dare to challenge their status and defy the grave that has been already dug out for them.

For the inhabitants of Roanapur, kindness is a bane. It is useless, it is a weakness and it renders you incapable of doing what it takes to survive. In such a world, any sign of kindness and humanity is bound to be noticed in no time. Roughly about a year ago, such a rarity was sighted on the dirty streets of this lawless city. The man formerly known as Okajima Rokuro, with his youngish looks and white collared shirt, stood out in this place like an honest politician in Washington DC. Both are anomalies and none is expected to succeed for too long in keeping their decency. Surprisingly enough, the former nihonjin salaryman defied all odds, counting himself as the only inhabitant of the crime-riddled isle that still keeps a shred of decency and true kindness in his bones. What would be a sought ought virtue somewhere else is just a nuisance here, one that has been either overlooked or just tolerated out of a sense of morbid curiosity by his less than virtuous companions. And so, the man the Black Lagoon Company christened as Rock bears alone the curse of being the last honest and truly kind man in Roanapur.

For better or worse for Revy and the rest of their "delivery" outfit, that oddity of an individual had ended up joining them after his own former employers betrayed him and left him for dead. Pretty soon they realized their new member was going to have considerable problems with SOS, saving one's skin, the female gunfighter had no choice but to become his unwilling bodyguard, more out of a sense of lapsed loyalty to her teammate than anything. Or so she had believed back then.

Revy let out a wisp of smoke filter from her lips as she twirled on her left hand one of her trademark custom Berettas. Not wanting to repeat the drunken antic that had deprived her of an AC unit at her place, she had decided to unload the twin Cutlass pistols before indulging in more drinking, but as safety, she had left two fully loaded magazines over a nearby table. You can never anticipate too much the odds of having uninvited party crashers wanting to tear your place apart while adding one more orifice to your body. However, unforeseen forced entries to her place were the last thing she worried about as she chugged from her beer. It was warm, she realized disdainfully. Revy rolled up her eyes as her mind recalled the conversation she and a certain devout member of the Church of Violence shared over drinks after the former had returned from a trip overseas. Curse Eda to hell with her Irish whisky and insistent curiosity! "Shit, is it that obvious?" Two-Hands thought angrily as she waved the half-full amber bottle in the air. "I might as well tack a sign in my forehead proclaiming I've screwed the guy!" Revy tossed the remainder of her cigarette through the window as her head fell heavily against a pillow. The gunslinger squeezed her eyes shut as both arms came to rest over her face, the cold steel of the Cutlass grazing her forearm.

"Tsk!" sneered Revy between clenched teeth. Eda's questioning irritated her very much. She could still picture in her mind Eda's face with her mocking laughter and that _"I know"_ attitude, but what really had her fuming was the sorry ass excuse of an answer she gave the former CIA operative. In fact, she couldn't even understand why she just couldn't give Eda a straight answer and put a definitive end to her inquiries. What she did and with who was her own damned business and she could care less if the false nun lusted all over the guy and he wouldn't even dare to give her the time of day. "Eda, why can't you just do me a big favor and die…" Revy murmured.

Two-hands wasn't inclined to give much thought to anything in her life, being impatience and brashness her calling cards and pretty much her preferred method with dealing with anything that crossed her path. Too much precious time was wasted giving having second thoughts, when all it took to squeeze the trigger was mere fractions of a second. Somehow, Eda's words had stirred inside her head the need to look back and give a second thought, something that could help her understand the reason behind her unusual reaction. The afternoon still had plenty hours to kill off before she could hit the bars with the rest of the Black Lagoon crew after a mission brief. Revy tossed out the remainder of her lukewarm beer outside the window. The action was quickly followed by a string of cursing from below that told her that some schmuck had been the unwitting recipient of a shower of beer over his head. Her head popped out the window followed by the glistening barrel of her gun in one hand while flipping the bird with the other. Before she could even open her mouth, all insults ceased and the man scurried away like a beaten dog. Revy smirked. When you are staring at the receiving end of a loaded weapon, all thoughts vacate your mind and only those with the will to keep cheating death over and over again survive the challenge. The certainty that the message her pistols sent remained unambiguous provided some comfort to her otherwise restless state of mind.

Half an hour later, Revy found herself at one of her favorite haunts whenever there wasn't a mission aboard the Black Lagoon or drinking to be done. In a town overflowing with guns, it wasn't unusual that some of the most frequented sites were the shooting ranges. Strangely enough for a seemingly lawless city, the ranges were regarded as neutral zone. The big shots like Hotel Moscow and the Triads could afford their own private clubs where they could hone their skills without the prying eyes of their rivals. For the rest, they had to made do with smaller and less fancy shooting clubs were you could brush shoulders with everyone from small town crooks and gangsta wannabe's to corrupt cops.

This particular club was favored by the rich and the indolent and it was owned by Gus McLeod, an ex-SAS paratrooper who after getting tired of fighting wars for someone else but himself, realized there was money, and a lot of it to be made by catering to the thirst for thrills of the rich and indolent. These men were basically big boys who liked to play with expensive big toys and weapons were always at the top of their lists. The Scotsman had a sharp eye for bling when it came to weapons and had managed to assemble a sizable amount of "toys" to please his customers, from run of the mill M4s and AK-47s to the newest technology in lethal power.

Today, as the majority of the high-end clientele had their fill with the assortment of grenade launchers, .50 cal machine guns and some extremely rare XM8s the shop had in stock, Revy decided to try out a SWAT inspired range, alternating hands as a twist instead of the double whammy approach that gained her the moniker Two-Hands. The setting had been designed to approach it using a primary weapon and then to switch to the secondary. Too bad a lanky Taiwan businessman had snatched the last double-barrel shotgun she had planed to use as primary, but judging by a quick visual scrutiny of the man, she seriously doubted he would stick with the weapon for too long. As the familiar scent of powder and the soothing sounds of weapon discharges filled her senses, she began her run, her trigger finger effortlessly letting out two-round volleys per target. The last round left the chamber and the bolt locked, signaling the change of weapon. She repeated the drill, walking the range mowing down stationary and pop up targets. Her senses zeroed on the exercise, her body acting out of pure instinct honed by hours of experience out on the field. However, the drill was a mere excuse for her to be at her most comfortable, to fill out time doing what she enjoyed the most as her mind traveled back months ago, when Hotel Moscow's expansion plans had led her and Rock to the land of the Rising Sun. This particular seemingly inconsequential mission had triggered the chain of events that prompted a change in the way they regarded each other. After Japan, Revy Two Hands and Okajima Rokuro never saw each other in the same way again.

* * *

"Did you see that Rock, baby? Jumbo split a bullet before my very own eyes! That is so fucking amazing! You don't get to see that kind of tricks back home. I just gotta see that again before we leave, ya hear me?" 

Revy gulped down another can of Asahi beer gesticulating in excitement. Her trademark feral grin materialized at the possibility of facing Yakuza swordsman Ginji on a fight. "Now that's what I would call a great souvenir, a bullet split neatly in half like a melon. Bet Dutch would love to be around to see that." She offered a skeptic eyeful to the chips that they had bought at the nearby 7-11 on their way back from the Bowling Alley. They were supposed to be shrimp flavored chips and she wouldn't doubt it due to the very fishy smell and unusual taste, but beggars can't be choosers and she was as far away from NYC and a bag of sour cream and onion Lay's as you could be on this cold, winter night.

While she kept chatting vivaciously, her room companion sipped his beer in a decidedly subdued mood. The long sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up and the dark tie dangled half undone from his neck. The TV set droned behind them, displaying some weird challenge show and the show's host was particularly loud and obnoxious. He had been like this pretty much since they arrived to his homeland. And just when she had though nostalgia and homesickness would have caught up with him to reconsider his stay with the Black Lagoon crew, instead he chose to act even more of a dork that he usually was, but worse. At least back at Roanapur he could be amusing in his dorkyness but the attitude he had been lately displaying was seriously grating her nerves because simply put, Rock wasn't fun to be around with anymore. Apparently, being back home and the whole deal with the Yukio girl had affected his sensitive and delicate nature more than she would have anticipated. At least, at Roanapur, his philosophizing about the good and bad of the world provided a refreshing, albeit irritating amusement. But now, not only she had to suffer being bored to the core most of the time; she also had to put up with his moods that fitted quite nicely in an Edgar Allan Poe novel but not so well for an apprentice underworld underling.

"The idiot" Two Hands mumbled to herself, deciding to quit wasting energy on trying to coax him out of his trance-like state. The showdown at the Bowling Alley had provided her the excitement that she had been craving for since she realized this mission would be a dull one. At the last minute, she had almost gotten off the plane when she realized she wouldn't be able to sneak her Cutlasses in to Japan and it took quite some convincing from Dutch to convince her, but not before she let everyone know what she thought of it with all matter of curses known to man.

Revy had been sorely itching for a fight to break the monotony and when her wish had finally been granted (not to mention getting some due payoff from that fucker Chaka,) Rock's dour mood felt like a rain soaking on her parade. Just when she had finally been given a chance to unwind and shake off some of the moods that were exasperatingly rubbing off on her from him, his unenthusiastic, detached response dampened any of the enjoyment that lingered from the fight. Revy didn't knew what irritated her the most: that her partner seemed to care less whether she was around or not or that she could read in his eyes that his thoughts were consumed by the fate of the former high school student became overnight head of the Yakuza faction targeted by Hotel Moscow. Revy knew all too well that once something materialized on Balalaika's sights, you could bet your life's savings she would lock on and get her way no matter what.

As she gave a quick glare towards her companion, the gunslinger mulled over on how she read in his eyes how he could see himself in the girl and how all his empathy instinctively sided with her. Hell, how couldn't he if they seemed to share the same geeky awkwardness, that seemingly idealistic and hopeful glimmer in their eyes and unspoiled auras, as if the real world had yet to catch up with them. That only opened up a world of hurt for him because she knew all too well where this thing was headed to and no matter how much she tried to warn him, he wouldn't heed her advice. She cursed Rock under her breath for making her think, for bringing forth memories of the past, for provoking this atypical trail of thoughts inside her mind of the Rebecca that once didn't used to be as hardened and cynical but was forced to learn the hard way of the darkness that dwells on men's hearts. His vulnerable state only made her despise the fact that it stirred from deep within the feelings and weaknesses she had deemed buried underneath the steeled wall that enabled her to survive and hold her sanity on check.

"I'm telling you. You should keep your distance with this mess. Remember you're just pulling a job for Hotel Moscow and the fact that you're Japanese shouldn't mean a thing. You're here simply to do a job and nothing more. Don't read more into it than that."

"Easy for you to say" the former salaryman mumbled, emptying the remainder of his Asahi. Letting the empty can slip down from his fingers, the white-collared mercenary sunk on his chair, his deadpan eyes aligning with the ceiling.

Revy sighed at his inattentiveness. "Listen Rock, buddy. You don't want to piss Balalaika off. If you are stupid enough to do something like that you'll be on your own. That bitch is insane and I've seen what she's capable of. If you force me to make a decision, you'll soon find out you'll be all by yourself." The tone of her voice was low and unusually soft, as if to emphasize the seriousness of her caution.

Rock straightened up, bestowing an intense glare upon Revy. "But what do you want me to do? Just shut my mind down and ignore the fact that I might be letting Yukio to be killed for no reason? I'm sorry Revy but I can't just stop feeling and behaving like a human being for Balalaika's sake or even for you. I just can't do that." His hands ran over his dark hair in frustration.

Revy's face warped into a sinister, almost menacing expression. Her eyes narrowed and the dark glimmer that would precede her legendary bloody rampages twinkled. It was the sight many had witnessed before exhaling their last breaths before scores of 9mm bullets lodged inside their broken bodies. "So, you finally grew up a pair to say to my face what you really think about me. What is it that I am then if I'm not human to you?"

"Revy, I didn't mean _that_." Rock stood up and rushed towards the female gunslinger extending an arm. Revy avoided him before he could make any contact.

"Oh no, don't come with false apologies now. I appreciate the honesty and I would respect you better if you would just stick to what you said instead of trying to appease me."

"I'm not trying to appease anyone. You misunderstood what I meant" the nihonjin affirmed soberly.

"And for how long you've been thinking this Rock? For how long you were to put up with our unsavory companionship? Or is it that you are pathetic enough that you couldn't return to your safe world but realized you didn't had what it takes to dirty your hands in your world and ours? That you couldn't stand the hypocrisy of that world you liked so much? If that's the case, you better get off my sight before I decide you're just too damn annoying to put up with you any longer."

Suddenly, Rock's mouth contorted into a rictus. "You know Revy, you are right. I am pathetic and I am a coward too. I can't even gather the courage to even see my family and much less to face them. I have been working outside the law but I have pretended I've somehow remained uncorrupted. I refuse to pick up a weapon to fight but have no qualms whatsoever to have any of you kill if that means that my pitiable life will be spared for one more day. I condemn all of you in my high and mighty righteousness but in truth I'm nothing but a hypocrite. At least Dutch, Balalaika, even you know exactly what you stand for and are willing to do what it takes for it but me, I'm just a farce." Rock's voice cracked upon uttering the last words.

Revy watched Rock as his face suddenly hung low, the hands at his side balling up trembling. His heels spun around as Revy watched him walked slowly towards the glass pane that overlooked the cityscape. His shoulders slumped forward and the muffled sounds of sobs caught her attention. Suddenly, his fists banged on the glass as the sobs grew louder as his knees bent until they connected with the carpeted floor of the hotel room. In any other case, in such a scenario, Revy would have simply ignored everything. However, something about Rock's misery compelled her to stay. Somehow, the hardened soul of Rebecca Two Hands was able to grasp his companion's predicament. The extent of Rock's raw moral dilemma lay displayed in all its complexity and soul searing pain and she was the sole witness to it.

"Tsk, what the hell am I doing?" slapping her forehead, Revy murmured to herself. Letting out a sight, she began to walk towards him.

"Oy oy Rock, cut that out would you? It's not as if we've haven't argued before. Let's go outside and get some fresh air and a few cold ones. You have your way of seeing things and I have mine but we have still managed to make a good team. Shit, I hate to admit it but you have been quite handy and it would be a pity if we didn't have you around anymore."

Rock didn't answer, as if he didn't acknowledge her presence right behind. His forehead kept glued to the glass pane, a stain of fog extending over the smooth surface as his breath raggedly escaped his lips.

"Hey, it's not polite to ignore someone who's talking to you. C'mon, hurry up and get up. You haven't been much of a tourist guide and I bet this place has much more to offer than lousy shrimp chips and Ferris wheel-less fairs."

"Go away Revy" he finally spewed with coarse voice.

"Heh, that's the spirit. You still have a little fight left in you. Now suck it up and let's go on the town. If we keep sulking like this we will end up arguing 'till we kill each other…well, until I kill you anyway." Upon saying this, Two Hands smirked. However, it seemed the joke had been lost on his sole audience member because the man remained unmoved.

"Hey, stop playing hard to get. This is getting annoying!" the gunslinger exclaimed exasperated as her fingers dug on his left shoulder. Rock suddenly snapped from his reverie, quickly turning around and away from the glass. His hand grabbed Revy's right wrist, pulling her down violently. Taken out of balance, Revy fell down hard to her side.

"Damn it Rock, what the hell was that for?" she screamed angrily as she sat up and grabbed his tie, yanking his neck forcefully forward.

"I told you to go away but you wouldn't listen" he replied undaunted.

"Cut the crap already. I'm fed up with your moping around. If you can't handle it, just quit now while you can but would you just put on a lid on the theatrics?"

Just when Revy was getting ready for a barrage of his own, he simply lifted his head and locked expressionless eyes with her angry ones. It was then that Revy noticed the wet cheeks and bloodshot eyes. His face was a mask of utter despair. The tight grip of her hand upon his tie began to loosen as she tried to make sense of his aspect. Suddenly, without a word, Rock lunged himself towards Revy, lowering his tear-drenched face against her shoulder. Revy could feel his agitated breaths against her neck and his arms tightening firmly around her back like a drowning man holds on to a lifeline.

"Revy…I am afraid, I am afraid of what I might become."

The gunslinger didn't dare to move or speak as she stood still for the longest until a hesitating gloved hand rose to soothe the man's back. After awkward minutes, she felt the tension in his arms easing and his breathing acquiring a more steady rhythm. When Rock finally broke the impromptu embrace, their eyes met again and Revy was able to notice that the shadow of despair began to lift slowly from his face. Sensing that he had been finally able to calm down, Revy began to move upwards when suddenly, she felt being grabbed by the shoulders by firm fingers and without any warning, Rock kissed her as he pinned her back firmly against the glass window. The kiss was desperate and messy. It wasn't the kind of kiss offered to a lover but a gesture of urgency and desperation. Revy recognized the caress because she had been both giver and receiver of such kisses before when she had sought and found solace on a moment of pleasure. Rock's teeth dug on her lower lip as his hand pulled on her long ponytail, making the gunslinger wince. Rock abandoned her mouth for a moment and Revy pulled back, raising her hands against his chest. Rock watched his companion with a mixture of incipient desire, shock and expectation as his face projected the fear of being rejected by her.

"I…I'm sorry Revy, I don't know what got into me" he muttered embarrassed as he gathered his breath.

Revy arched an eyebrow as she assessed the man. "Rock, are you sure you want this?"

"Huh?"

"I ask you because you're the cautious, scrupulous one here. I don't want you to be looking at me with eyes of regret back at Roanapur just because you didn't take the time to think things through. If you're not up to it, don't go any further then."

"Revy…" Rock replied flabbergasted. He was still trying to make sense out of what he had just heard. He would have never expected such proposal, not from her and most definitely, not like this.

"Rock, I'll be completely honest with you and you'd better open your ears to hear this out because this is a one shot deal. We have all been there. We have all trembled in fear as we sank deeper into the mud and we all our moments of fear as we stepped further into the world of darkness so don't be so hard to yourself."

The young man let out a sigh as he slowly began to stand up. "It's just that it's like I haven't been able to decide what I want to do with myself but at the same time, there are things I'm not willing to sacrifice because I fear I might lose myself. I don't know if I can stand what's going on around me. Call me foolish but I'm willing let Balalaika know what I think about this whole mess. It's the only way I can appease my conscience and feel better about myself." Rock extended a hand to his companion, aiding her on the way up.

"You know what? You're hopeless but if you plan to do that you have more guts that I would have given you credit for." Revy's lips curved into a wicked grin as she stared at his partner. "So, what you've decided then?"

"What do you mean?" Rock eyes' opened up like saucers.

"Are you or aren't you going to screw me? Sure beats arguing by a long shot and I'm sure you could use the release. Hell, I know I can and at least I know you will not attempt to steal from me or kill me." Revy sneered to herself as she remembered her last lover. She had been drinking with Eda at the Yellowflag bar when the guy, a dark, tall and handsome Sicilian rookie made his entrance. Eda, never too shabby to miss an opportunity to test her hotheaded drinking partner and make a buck in the process, challenged her to see which one of the two would end up bedding the guy. Within two days, Revy had given the rookie the night of his life and pocketed $500 in the process. Unfortunately, pleasure was short lived because the guy turned out to be the kiss and tell type but when he began to brag about "his" conquest, Revy had no choice but to teach him some manners. Needless to say, the Sicilian learned his lesson well. A pissed-off Chinese-American and two Berettas aimed point blank at the family jewels did the trick quite nicely. After that experience, Revy had become wary of both Eda's bets and of men. As she gave a visual assessment on her partner, Revy realized there were intricate advantages of choosing Rock for the task at hand. Confidentiality was assured and he was a clean, well-bred man, and a bearable drunk. He could grow some muscle but overall, he was a decent sight and she was pretty sure he approved of her looks by the times she had caught him staring at her. It also appeared that he was also more intimidated by her than attracted to even remotely consider making a move on his coworker and de-facto bodyguard.

"Besides" she added in more serious intonation. "I might be a cold-hearted killer but I'm no slut. I wouldn't be proposing this to anyone."

Rock wondered what had compelled Revy to open up to him like this. Since that day she had pointed a gun to his face, they had never talked like this. There had been tense moments, heated arguments and even fisticuffs between them, but in none of those occasions he had felt she actually cared for him. Perhaps some of his kindness was rubbing onto her after all.

"I don't know what to say, I mean, I'm honored you'd consider me…" he stammered, feeling sweat beginning to pearl upon his forehead.

"So…?" she said, moving dangerously close to him. He remembered how surprisingly soft she felt against him when he had kissed her, of the musky scent that spoke of danger and darkness and the soft lips that concealed her hard, unyielding nature. She had read him right. He was desperately seeking refuge and solace from his tormented state of mind and she had willfully offered to aid him in his predicament in a way they could both forget about everything and let loose. There was only one thing left for him to do.

Without warning, Rock lunged himself towards the ponytailed gunslinger, his mouth clashing against hers. Moments later, they had managed to somehow maneuver themselves towards the edge of the bed. Rock had thought they wouldn't be able to make it that far because halfway through, he had been startled by one of Revy's hands unabashedly taking hold of him. Upon the sudden intimate contact, Rock had stopped mid kiss and through half closed eyelids, he caught the feral smirk that made him feel like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights. The momentary shock had allowed her to take control of the situation, practically shoving him to the bed with her towering over.

"Hell yeah, this sure is a better way to spend time" she murmured against his lips as her thighs straddled him. Not wanting to be outdone by his enthusiastic partner, Rock pulled her head down for another round of kisses while his hands grabbed the edge of her long sleeved black sweater as he struggled to take it off her.

"Need some help with that?" she mumbled, sensing the difficulty Rock had with removing the garment. She hoped it was only his nerves and not the fact that he was inexperienced because she wasn't in the mood at all to play teacher.

"I wouldn't mind" Rock replied slightly frustrated as he allowed her to pull back. He feared he was looking like a hormone-riddled teen and the last thing he wanted was to disappoint her. He gulped as Revy removed the sweater and with a wicked snicker, tossed it over the translator's face. When he managed to fling it away, she had already stoke claim of his neck with tongue and teeth, as her now gloveless hands hastily began to undo the buttons of his shirt. The white shirt joined her black sweater on the floor, seconded by the tie not before she had again yanked it to pull him for another hot, breathtaking kiss. It wasn't too long before the rest of the clothes went to join the rest, leaving their owners to their passions and mutual lust as they allowed themselves to be overtaken by them.

Hours later, when a noticeably relaxed Rock woke up, he found himself in his bed, sans all his clothing but startled to sense some discomfort upon his shoulders. He glanced over his left shoulder and noticed a trail of reddish marks upon his pale skin. When his memory brought him up to date of the events of the last hours, his eyes immediately to scan the opposite side of bed, but there was no one to be found.

"I shouldn't have expected for her to stick around" he mumbled disappointed but that accurate logic didn't help to alleviate the empty feeling that had lodged inside him. He drew in a deep breath when his nostrils filled with the distinctive smell of smoke. Cigarette smoke. He scanned the floor until he found his pants on the floor. Led by the scent, he walked towards the suite's balcony. Clad only in a t-shirt and undies, Revy was letting out a wisp of smoke from her lips as her glance seemed to be focused on the bright lights of the Tokyo cityscape. Her hair was still undone. It was one of those rare moments she was caught with her hair down, literally. One arm rested on the balcony as the other held the cigarette up, the thin column of ashen smoke trailing up until it dispersed in the air. Rock's eyes examined her body, the long, toned legs that moments ago had possessively entangled around his waist; the narrow waist he had breathlessly held on to as their bodies joined to become one; the sinewy arms that had held him close as they sought and found fulfillment. He could still sense the taste of her skin when he had traced her tribal tattoo with his mouth from the arm upwards. He paused to remember how her body had writhed and thrashed underneath him in approval when he decided to payback her initial brazen approach with a similar maneuver at the apex of her legs that had her moaning in crescendo. The sudden assault to his senses provoked his body to tense. He closed his eyes, allowing a pleasurable shudder run down his spine. As he caught a deep, cleansing breath, a part of his mind still warped around the worry of whether it had been appropriate for them to have slept together, but the fact that part of his blues had been dispelled for the time being, but most importantly, that he finally found out that Revy wasn't as uncaring as she appeared to be, made it difficult for him to believe it had been such an incorrect decision. He approached the balcony and moved towards his comrade.

"So, anything exciting going down there, Revy?"

Revy turned around as she let out a puff of smoke. "No, nothing much really but the cold air feels nice."

"It is quite cold indeed! How you can stand it wearing only that?" the former salaryman exclaimed as he averted her eyes away from the thin shirt that did little to conceal her erect nipples, not that he had seen that and more just moments ago.

"I'm used to it. I know a thing or two about winter's cold, Rock. Remember I'm from the States, and there's no more bitter winter than that of the city." Turning her head to glance at the man, Revy added: "care for a smoke?"

"I could use one" he replied.

Revy offered his partner an open packet of cigarettes and Rock drew one. Revy brought hers to her lips and in an unspoken queue, Rock took his so Revy could lit it with hers, their faces closing in. They remained like that in silence, backs against the balcony until their cigarettes were consumed.

"You really plan to speak to Balalaika?" the female gunslinger inquired, her glance still lost in the horizon of incandescent lights and concrete and glass buildings.

"Yeah, I think I will. I don't have your skills but at least I can try to talk my way into convincing her to seeing things my way."

"Remember, I might not be able to protect you if things get ugly. You'll be on your own."

"I know. It is my personal issue, not yours. You shouldn't have to make yourself responsible for my foolishness."

"I see. Well, we'd better get inside. I have the feeling things will seriously kick into gear soon so we should enjoy the peace while we can."

Rock nodded as he followed Revy inside. He paused and bent to pick up his belongings from the floor when suddenly, he felt a hand ensnaring around his waist from behind. He rose and sensed her breasts pressing tightly against his back and her breathing warm over his ear. After tugging at his earlobe, she murmured hotly with husky voice:

"Since it appears you plan to go kamikaze on me tomorrow, I might as well give you a parting gift."

Smiling, Rock spun around as he took hold of Revy's waist.

"I'll take the gift, but I'm not planning to die on you yet."

"You'd better not, not now when things are getting really interesting" she murmured with an impish smile.

Rock simply cupped her cheeks and kissed her tenderly, concluding that his clothes could remain on the floor for a while longer.

* * *

The last bullet left the chamber of her gun and Revy smiled in satisfaction. The bullet had pierced a gaping hole center mass on the target. Her mind could be at Mars searching for little green men, but her aiming would still remain as lethally accurate as always. 

"Not too shabby, eh Two Hands!" McLeod exclaimed, surrounded by some of his high-end clientele.

"Yeah, the fucker wouldn't have been able to survive this one. I had a good time with your toys. Next time I want to snatch one of those fancy, futuristic guns you keep babbling about."

"I'll reserve one just for you for the next time Revy."

"Thanks. I got to get going. See ya around Gus."

Half an hour later, Revy was popping open a can of beer while sitting across the deck of their PT boat. She was waiting for Dutch to arrive with instructions for their next mission. Benny was tinkering below deck with his computers and oddly enough, Rock's whereabouts were still unknown. She fished the pockets of her extremely shorts denim jeans for a smoke but couldn't find one. Mumbling, Revy stood up to see if Benny had some cigarettes when she noticed Rock arriving. He was walking with a quick pace, glancing at his wristwatch.

"So, where's the fire?" Revy inquired.

"The meeting hasn't started yet?" the translator asked, slightly breathless.

"Nope, Dutch hasn't arrived yet."

"I'm glad. I thought I was late."

Revy gave him an inquisitive look. "So, what you we're doing that you thought you were late?"

Rock looked slightly embarrassed. "Too be honest. I wasn't doing anything specific. I just felt like walking today and before I realized it, it was already getting dark and I remembered we had all agreed to come for a mission brief."

Revy gave his comrade a sympathetic look. Apparently, she hadn't been the only one feeling restless today. "C'mon" she said as she began moving towards the cabins. "Let's go get some smokes from Benny. I left mine at home."

Rock nodded in affirmative, smiling inwardly. Revy, as far as he knew, had never been distracted enough to forget two things: her Berettas and a pack of cigarettes. Perhaps he hadn't been the only one feeling slightly unbalanced today. They both walked towards the Lagoon hacker's room and found him glued to the monitor typing nimbly.

"Yo Benny" Revy inquired "got some smokes you can spare?"

"There they are" the blonde man said while pointing at a nearby table. "Help yourself guys. I'm a bit busy now."

"I think someone is chatting dirty things with his Indian girlfriend. Let's go Rock and allow Romeo here some privacy to jerk off through the Net."

Benny offered a livid stare towards the duo but his cheeks acquired a slight pink tone. How the hell she knew he was chatting with Jane? "By the way, Dutch called to say something came up and he'll be arriving later than scheduled."

"Ok, thanks Benny and give Jane our regards" the female gunslinger said snickering as she took off.

Sometime later, Revy was sitting down with her legs crossed, halfway through her cigarette while Rock stood up with his hands on his pockets, as the wind made his tie flutter in the air. When this guy will quit using that thing, she wondered to herself amused. Then again, the day he renounced using that ridiculous white shirt and tie, he wouldn't be the Rock they knew anymore. She wasn't sure if she would like that Rock better than this one.

"You know Revy?" the former businessman said: "not too long after we returned, I told Benny I was going to watch this place from the twilight. I'm still wondering if I'll ever be able to turn away from this or how deep I'll end sinking into the darkness but I'm glad of something."

"Uhuh?"

"I don't think I'll have been able to make it through the last mission without your help. You almost lost a leg and it would have been my fault for involving myself far too much in Yukio's business and for dragging you along."

Revy shot him an irritated look. "Tsk, how the hell do you think I'll have been able to survive in that place without you translating everything? Don't get me wrong Rock, baby, but I had to protect your ass for my own sake."

Rock glanced at Revy from the corner of his eye. He smiled inwardly. The last mission had enabled him to see through her tough façade, not that she wasn't but Miss Rebecca still had a lingering trace of humanity hidden deep inside, even if she were the first one to deny it.

"Even then, I just wanted to thank you for that."

"If you really want to show your gratitude, why don't you grab a couple more of those nice, green bottles that Dutch keeps in his place?"

"Sure thing" he replied as he dutifully left for the beers.

While hearing Rock's steps fade away, Revy twirled her cigarette, as she flickered the accumulated ash. As her eyes scanned the sky at dusk, an impish smile tugged on her lips.

"Guess I owe you a toast then, Rock: to the last kind man in Roanapur. Cheers."

_** - Fin -**_

_AN:_

Special thanks to my extremely patient beta-reader and friend Carrie for introducing me to this awesome series and for reviewing about six drafts of this story. Hope that hard work and persistence paid off. ;)


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